James will choose $52.6 million player option for potential farewell season

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, 40-year-old LeBron James will choose the $52 million player option in the 2025 offseason. You should know that the 2025-26 season is the last season of LeBron James' two-year, $113 million contract. For LeBron James, who is already 40 years old, this may be a retired season.

In Pat McAfee's show, Charania revealed that LeBron James "is likely" to choose the last year of his personal contract, because LeBron James must decide on his contract options before June 29.

Charania said, "I heard he might choose... He has a lot of player choices. It's a plan, but there will be some tough conversations between him and the Lakers. Whether he plays for another season or a few more seasons, he wants to be in a competitive environment."

52.6 million USD, the highest annual salary in LeBron James's personal career in more than 20 years. In recent years, he has chosen to cut his salary frequently to help the team free up some salary space to strengthen the lineup and help himself win the fifth championship in his personal career.

However, the Lakers' successive playoff defeats also made LeBron and James feel a little disappointed. After all, in his personal lofty ambitions, he chose to sacrifice his income. On the other hand, some other superstars did not choose to sacrifice their income in order to win the championship. During the years he has been with the Lakers, he has helped the team remain competitive. He hopes that he and the team can stay in the ranks of the championship, which is also his ultimate goal of reducing his salary.

After experiencing a playoff defeat in the 2024-25 season, whether LeBron and James are willing to stay in the Lakers has been questioned by the outside world. After all, the Lakers' current leader is Luka Doncic. The Lakers' management requires LeBron James to abdicate and serve as the second in command to assist the young Luka Doncic.

Many fans and media suggested that LeBron James return to the Cleveland Cavaliers with Brownie James. After all, the competitiveness of the Cleveland Cavaliers is much better than that of the Los Angeles Lakers. Signing a two-year short contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers can also wait for their second son Bryce James to participate in the 2026 NBA Draft and enter the league to play together.

LeBron James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists in his 22nd NBA season of his personal career. With his team leader, the Lakers ranked third in the Western Conference and excellent personal data, he was also selected as the second team of the year. In fact, the era of LeBron James is over. If he wants to win the championship, he must get more help. In the Lakers, it is impossible to succeed with Luka Doncic, Hachimura and Reeves alone.